Microsoft MN-700 v3.0
Your here: Home / Network / Hardware Specific / Microsoft / MN-700 v3.0 __TOC__ NOTE: During configuration or flashing a device, the only that should be hooked to the device is the computer and power. Specs This section is in need of cleanup! Platform Serial Num. = ? FCC ID = C3K-MN700 CPU Type = Broadcom BCM4702KPB (BCM4710) MIPS Rev = ? CPU Speed = 125MHz Bus = ? Flash Type = Parallel Flash Chip = ? Flash Size = 4MB Max Firmware Size = ? RAM Size = 16MB RAM Chip = 0906 48LC4M32B2 nvram Size = ? Switch = Broadcom BCM5325A2KQM (BCM5325A) Port-based vlan = ? 802.1q vlan = ? Ethernet Port Count = 1-WAN 4-LAN Wired Standard = IEEE 802.3? boot_wait = ? bootloader = ? Flash Card Socket/Type = ? SD/MMC Mod Support = ? MiniPCI slots = Yes PoE = No Power = 12V Color of LEDs = ? Size = ? USB = No Serial Port = Yes JTAG Port = Yes Supported by TJTAG/Version = ? Supported by dd-wrt as of = v23 build 3953 dd-wrt K2.4 Support = Yes dd-wrt K2.6 Support = No Special Features = ? Radio (wl0) Wireless Radio = Broadcom BCM4306KFB WLAN DSP processor = ? Antenna Connector Type = ? Wireless Standard = IEEE 802.11b/g WiFi Operating Frequency = 2.4GHz 802.11g = 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54Mbps 802.11b = 1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps Radio cor_rev = ? Radio Capabilities = ? Links of Interest * Linux on a Windows CE Device * Microsoft MN700 hack project Introduction The Microsoft MN-700 is essentially a rebadged Asus WL500G WRT. Out-of-the-box it runs a WinCE based firmware with a crippled bootloader that does not support Linux based firmwares (like DD-WRT). To run DD-WRT, a new bootloader must be installed through a hardware hack (until someone comes up with a WinCE killer like the vxworks killer for the Linksys WRT54G v5). The following links provide details regarding this hack: *Jozerworx version of LiamM's hack *LiamM.com *Microsoft MN700 Hack Project AsusForums *TechIMO.com version of LiamM's hack 404 Error For those who are wondering, the MN-500 has completely different hardware than the MN-700, so the instructions provided by the links above work for the MN-700 but not the MN-500. To date, it does not appear a similar hack for the MN-500 has been discovered yet. Flashing Note: Support for the MN-700 was officially added after the release of DD-WRT v.23 SP2. Therefore v.23 SP2 and eariler are not supported on the MN-700. Please use build SVN 3953 (link below) or higher. Earlier builds will brick the router, you will have to clear NVRAM through JTAG (recovery mode will NOT work). A compatible build (SVN 3953) of DD-WRT is available here. # Follow one (or a combination) of the hardware hack guides listed in the Introduction section above to get the WL500G Stock Firmware, Oleg's Custom Firmware, or OpenWRT installed and running on the MN-700. # Download a compatible version of DD-WRT here (SVN 3953). # Put the WRT in hardware restoration mode (hold down the reset button while powering on the WRT and wait until the the power light steadily alternates between green and amber). # Upload the DD-WRT firmware with the Asus Firmware Restoration Utility. (Available under "Utilities") Upgrading Reverting Firmware Restoration Mode The MN-700 (and Asus WL500G AFAIK) has a special pre-boot state that makes it extremely easy to upload new firmware images, even when the current firmware is corrupt (infact the WRT automatically drops into this mode when a corrupt firmware is detected during boot). Either applying a new firmware through the Asus Firmware Restoration Utility (see section below) or a hard reboot (removing the power) is required to exit this state (Note that entering this state does not negatively effect the current settings or firmware so it is not especially dangerous to accidentially enter firmware restoration mode -- although it does get in the way of performing a "reset button" based reset of the WRTs settings as noted in the section above). To enter firmware restoration mode, simply press the reset button while powering on the WRT and wait until the power LED alternates between green and amber. The reset button can then be released and the WRT will stay in this state until the next power cycle or a new firmware has been uploaded. In this state, the Asus Firmware Restoration Utility (see below) can/should be used to upload new firmware images. It does not appear that any particular IP address range is needed to upload firmware in this mode. However, a valid IP address is required. Since no DHCP server is available in this mode, either the host computer needs a static IP address or one simply needs to wait for Windows (Win2k and later) to assign an automatic private IP address in the 169.254.0.0/16 range. Asus Firmware Restoration Utility The Asus Firmware Restoration Utility is available from the Asus support site under "Utilities." This is the preferred utility for uploading new firmware distributions since many firmwares reject a different distribution's firmware if one attempts to use the web interface. It appears this utility operates at layer 2 of the OSI model, because it is able to detect WRTs in Firmware Recovery Mode regardless of the host computer's IP address. I recommend statically assigning an IP address in the 192.168.1.x range when working with DD-WRT because this is the range DD-WRT defaults to and WRTs can only be detected once the host has an IP address (DHCP works, but takes longer because the DHCP client must first time-out and assign an automatic private IP address before the WRT will be detected -- and this happens every time the WRT is power cycled because the network connection is lost). Sometimes the Windows firewall interfers with the Asus Firmware Restoration Utility. When it does, the utility is not able to find the WRT, but the WRT power LED stops alternating colors and displays a solid green when one attempts to upload a new firmware file. Either disabling the firewall or making a firewall exception for the Asus Firmware Restoration Utility solves this problem. JTAG/Serial Info JTAG JTAG Pinouts This section is in need of cleanup! JTAG Recovery This section is in need JTAG Recovery Instructions! Serial Serial Pinouts This section is in need of cleanup! Hyper terminal Setup in Windows XP In Windows XP, Click Start Button - All Programs - Accessories - Communication - HyperTerminal Enter a name for the connection, Click ok Choose com port you adapter is plugged into, Click ok Set: Bits per second = 115200 Data Bits = 8 Parity = none Stop bits = 1 Flow control = none Click ok Click File - Save As, and select a place to save it to so you don't have to enter the settings again. Putty Setup in Windows XP After installing putty, run it Serial line = The COM port your using for serial (ie. COM3) Speed = 115200 Click on Serial under Connection Serial line to connect to = same as above (Serial line) Speed (baud) = 115200 Data bits = 8 Stop bits = 1 Parity = None Flow control = None Click Session Enter a name for your connection under saved sessions Click Save Click Open Serial Recovery This section is in need of Serial Recovery Instructions! vlan Info This section is in need of cleanup! Pictures FCC Pictures This section is in need of cleanup! Notes Resetting Defaults There are several ways the MN-700's NVRAM can be reset. # Using the Administration -> Factory Defaults web interface. # Selecting the option to reset to Default Settings when upgrading the firmware through the Administration -> Firmware Upgrade web interface. # Pressing the reset button while booting (see Reset Button below for MN-700 reset button quirks). # Last, non-hardware based, resort when the unit won't boot due to a bad setting -- see this forum post. # Last resort -- use the JTAG connection that originally allowed custom firmware to be installed on the MN-700 to reset NVRAM. Reset Button SVN 3953 and later builds support the reset button. However, the "firmware restoration" mode requires a change to the standard Linksys "hold reset button for 30 seconds" procedure for resetting the WRT to its defaults. The following is how the reset button works on the MN-700: When the WRT is powered on * Holding the reset button for 15-20 seconds will cause the WRT to reboot. * Upon reboot, a pressed reset button causes the WRT to go into firmware restoration mode. This does NOT reset the defaults (see the section below for more information on the firmware restoration mode). * Since there is little to no warning of the exact instant the WRT will reboot when holding the reset button, chances are extremely good that the reset button will still be depressed and cause the WRT to go into firmware restoration mode. Hard booting the WRT will get the WRT back, but settings will NOT be reset. When the WRT is booting * Holding the reset button during the boot sequence will reset the unit to its defaults. * Care must be taken to press the reset button right after the (amber) power light turns off immidiately after powering on the WRT and not before, to avoid going into firmware restoration mode. Based on the above, it should be fairly self-evident that the following procedure is recommended for using the reset button on the MN-700. # Unplug the WRT # Plug in the WRT # The power light will blink, then glow amber # As soon as the power light turns off, press and hold the reset button # Hold the reset button until the power and wireless buttons glow green. # The WRT should now be reset to its defaults Hardware Notes This section covers observations made about working with the MN-700 hardware. Certian behaviors of this device are different than other WRTs (especially the Linksys). NVRAM Protection DD-WRT SP2 and earlier do not work with the MN-700 because some NVRAM variables (namely filter_services1-7) were too long. NVRAM variables >1024 characters in length cause the MN-700 to reset the NVRAM every reboot. Excessively long NVRAM variables actually brick the MN-700 (the power light is solid amber when powered on and the unit never boots) and can only be unbricked by resetting NVRAM through a JTAG connector. I can't define excessively long because I discovered this when working with some SP2 alpha builds and never calculated the maximum limit (I was just happy to be able to debrick my WRT and moved on). This issue manifests itself when changes to the WRT do not survive a reboot. SP2 and most of the previous versions of DD-WRT exibited this symptom and can technically be made to work with the MN-700 by manually clearing the filter_services variable (only filter_services2 for SP2) and commiting nvram after the intial installation of DD-WRT. But doing so is not recommended or supported because this may cause problems later (especially relating to DD-WRT filters). The information above is provided to explain the NVRAM protection feature of the MN-700 to aid in troubleshooting potential future problems should a >1024 NVRAM variable creep back into the DD-WRT firmware. External Links *DD-WRT SVN 3953 *Microsoft Product Web Site **MS Firmware (requires installing/extracting firmware files from an EXE) *Asus Support Page for WL500G **Factory firmware available under "firmware" **Asus Firmware Restoration Utility available under "utilities" *MN-700 Hardware Hacking Guides **Jozerworx version of LiamM's hack **LiamM.com **Microsoft MN700 Hack Project AsusForums **TechIMO.com version of LiamM's hack *Windows JTAG Software **New WinXP EJTAG Debrick Beta .99 *Non-MS firmwares for MN-700 **DD-WRT SVN 3953 **Oleg's Custom Firmware **Asus WL500G Stock Firmware **OpenWRT Hardware Modification *MN-700 and MMC/SD mod Category: English Documentation Category: Microsoft Category: Fix Me! Category:Broadcom Category:BCM4702 Category:BCM4710 Category:BCM4306 Category:IEEE 802.11b/g Category:BCM5325A